Cleaning card

ABSTRACT

A cleaning card comprises a rectangular plate-shaped card and a tubular fabric member into which a card can be inserted. Two surfaces of the card are overlapped by an inner surface of the fabric member. The fabric member is formed from a nonwoven fabric made of polyethylene terephthalate. Two adhered portions formed by overlapping and adhering a part of the nonwoven fabric are provided on an outer surface of the fabric member so as to extend in a width direction of the card. The adhered portions are positioned on the both surfaces of the card respectively. Wiping portions formed so as to project from the adhered portions are provided respectively on the adhered portions.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application Nos. JP2009-261053 filed on Nov. 16, 2009, and JP2010-131637 filed on Jun. 9, 2010, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a cleaning card, and more particularly to a cleaning card for cleaning a sensor or the like built into a card using machine such as an ATM (Automated Teller Machine).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A card using machine such as an ATM includes a card feeding roller, and a sensor or other device for reading required information from a card. A cleaning card is used to clean the sensor or other device in this type of card using machine. A conventional cleaning card comprises a plate-shaped card and a fabric member provided on at least one surface of the card. By inserting the cleaning card into the card using machine, the fabric member can remove dirt from the sensor or other device.

However, because the cleaning card has a flat structure, it may be difficult to clean the sensor or other device reliably when a gap exists between the cleaning card and the sensor or other device. Therefore, a card in which a base material surface is formed in a concavo-convex waveform shape and a fabric member is provided thereon, such as a cleaning card described in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. H6-231431, has been developed.

However, in the interior of the card using device, the sensor or other device may be more recessed than the conveyance path of the card, the sensor may be surrounded by a guide, and the card may be lifted above the conveyance path when sandwiched by card conveying members such as a roller or a belt. Therefore, it may be difficult to clean the sensor or other device reliably even with the cleaning card described in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No, H6-231431.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been designed to solve these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning card that can clean a sensor or other device built into a card using machine reliably.

The cleaning card according to the present invention comprises: a tubular fabric member; at least one adhered portion formed on an outer surface of the fabric member by overlapping and adhering a part of a fabric forming the fabric member; and a wiping portion provided on the adhered portion and formed so as to project from the adhered portion, wherein the fabric member takes a planar shape obtained by folding the fabric member such that inner surfaces thereof overlap, and the adhered portion is positioned on the outer surface of the fabric member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cleaning card according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A to 2C are views showing a manufacturing process for a fabric member of the cleaning card according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view for illustrating an operation of cleaning card according to the first embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a cleaning card according to a second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below on the basis of the attached drawings.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 shows the perspective view of the cleaning card according to the First Embodiment. A cleaning card 1 comprises a card 2 which is a rectangular plate-shaped base material, and a tubular fabric member 3 into which the card 2 can be inserted. Two surfaces 2 a, 2 b of the card 2 are overlapped by an inner surface 3 a of the fabric member 3. The fabric member 3 is formed from a nonwoven fabric made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Two adhered portions 4, 5 formed by overlapping and adhering a part of the nonwoven fabric are provided on an outer surface 3 b of the fabric member 3 so as to extend in a width direction (a parallel direction to a short side) of the card 2. The adhered portions 4, 5 are positioned respectively on two outer surfaces 3 b 1, 3 b 2 on opposite sides of the card 2. Wiping portions 6, 7 formed so as to project from the adhered portions 4, 5 are provided respectively on the adhered portions 4, 5.

Next, referring to FIGS. 2A to 2C, a process for manufacturing the fabric member 3 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the adhered portion 5 is formed by overlapping and adhering two end portions 10 a, 10 b of a strip-form fabric 10. Here, an arbitrary well-known method such as ultrasound welding, heat fusion, or adhesion using an adhesive may be employed as an adhesion method. As shown in FIG. 2B, the adhered portion 4 is formed by overlapping and adhering a part of the fabric 10 so as to be parallel to the adhered portion 5 in a position that is different from that of the adhered portion 5. As shown in FIG. 2C, the wiping portions 6, 7 are formed by cutting away parts of the adhered portions 4, 5 appropriately. Thus, the wiping portions 6, 7 are formed from the PET nonwoven fabric which is the same material as the fabric 10 and formed integrally with the adhered portions 4, 5. Note that the positions, number and width of the wiping portions 6, 7 may be modified appropriately by adjusting the cut-away parts. Thus, a cleaning card which is suited for the card using machine (i.e. depends on the arrangement of the sensor or other device) can be manufactured.

Next, an operation of the cleaning card according to the First Embodiment will be described.

FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of a part of the interior of an ATM 20 which is a card using machine. The ATM 20 is provided with a card insertion port 21 into which a card (not shown) is inserted. A card conveyance path 22 is provided in the interior of the ATM 20 so as to communicate with the card insertion port 21. A pair of rollers 23, 23 for conveying the card into the card conveyance path 22 and discharging the card from the card conveyance path 22 are provided on the card conveyance path 22 near the card insertion port 21, and lenses 24, 25, 26 of a sensor (not shown) are provided on an upper surface and a lower surface of the card conveyance path 22. The lenses 24, 25 are disposed in the recessed positions relative to the upper surface and lower surface of the card conveyance path 22, respectively. The lens 26 is surrounded by a guide 27 that projects beyond the lens 26.

When the cleaning card 1 is inserted into the card insertion port 21, the cleaning card 1 is conveyed into the card conveyance path 22 by the rollers 23, 23. When the cleaning card 1 is conveyed through the card conveyance path 22, gaps exist between the fabric member 3 of the cleaning card 1 and the upper and lower surfaces of the card conveyance path 22, and therefore the part of the fabric member 3 that overlaps the card 2 cannot wipe the lenses 24, 25, 26. However, because the adhered portions 4, 5 projecting from the flat part of the fabric member 3 are provided with the wiping portions 6, 7 which are provided so as to further project from the adhered portions 4, 5, the wiping portions 6, 7 can wipe the lenses 24, 25 disposed in the recessed positions from the upper surface and lower surface of the card conveyance path 22 and the lens 26 surrounded by the guide 27.

When cleaning is completed, the rollers 23, 23 are caused to rotate in an opposite direction such that the cleaning card 1 is discharged from the card conveyance path 22 through the card insertion port 21. When the wiping portions 6, 7 become dirty due to the cleaning operation, only the fabric member 3 need be replaced, and therefore the card 2 can be reused. As a result, a reduction in waste and a reduction in maintenance costs expended on the cleaning card 1 can be achieved.

As described above, by providing the adhered portions 4, 5 which are formed by overlapping and adhering the end portions 10 a, 10 b of the tubular fabric member 3 forming the tubular fabric member 3 each other and parts of the fabric 10 each other with the wiping portions 6, 7 such that they project from the adhered portions 4, 5, and positioning the adhered portions 4, 5 on the outer surfaces 3 b 1, 3 b 2 of the fabric member 3, the wiping portions 6, 7 provided on the adhered portions 4, 5 project from the fabric member 3. Thus, the lenses 24, 25, 26 of the sensor or other device built into the ATM 20 can be cleaned reliably.

In the first embodiment, although the two adhered portions 4, 5 are respectively positioned on the outer surfaces 3 b 1, 3 b 2 on opposite sides of the card 2, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. If the lenses of the sensors or other device are disposed on only one of the upper surface and lower surface of the card conveyance path 22, the adhered portions 4, 5 may be positioned on either the outer surface 3 b 1 or the outer surface 3 b 2 alone. Furthermore, the number of adhered portions is not limited to two but may be set at one, three, or more.

In the first embodiment, although the wiping portions 6, 7 are formed from the same material as the fabric 10 and formed integrally with the adhered portions 4, 5, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. After forming the adhered portions, the wiping portions formed from the same or different material from the fabric 10 may be adhered to the adhered portions 4, 5 by suitable adhering means such as an adhesive.

In the first embodiment, although the fabric member 3 is formed in a tubular shape by overlapping and adhering the end portions 10 a, 10 b of the strip-form fabric 10, it is not limited to this embodiment. It may be formed in a tubular shape by overlapping two rectangular pieces of fabric and adhering edge portions thereof. Furthermore, although the fabric 10 is a nonwoven fabric made of PET, it is not limited to this but may also be a woven fabric or a nonwoven fabric made of polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, cellulose, silk, cotton, paper, or the like.

Second Embodiment

Next, the cleaning card according to the Second Embodiment of the present invention will be described on the basis of FIG. 4. In the second embodiment, because the same numerical references as those used in FIGS. 1 to 3 denote the same or similar constitutional elements, the detailed descriptions of them are omitted.

The cleaning card according to the Second Embodiment differs from that of the First Embodiment in that the card 2 which is a base material is not used.

FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the cleaning card according to the Second Embodiment. A cleaning card 31 comprises the tubular fabric member 3 and takes a planar rectangular shape obtained by folding the fabric member 3 such that the inner surfaces 3 a thereof overlap. The overlapping inner surfaces 3 a are adhered to each other by an adhesive 30. The material, shape and manufacturing method of the fabric member 3 are the same as those of the First Embodiment. Furthermore, similarly to the First Embodiment, the adhered portions 4, 5 are provided respectively on the outer surfaces 3 b 1, 3 b 2 of the fabric member 3 on opposite sides of the adhesive 30. All other constructions are the same as the First Embodiment.

As described above, if the adhesive 30 adhering the overlapping inner surfaces 3 a of the fabric member 3 to each other hardens even without card 2 according to the First Embodiment, similar operations to card 2 may be exhibited. Thus, by causing the wiping portions 6, 7 provided on the adhered portions 4, 5 to project from the fabric member 3, similar effects to the First Embodiment can be obtained. However, using the adhesive 30 to adhere the overlapping inner surfaces 3 a of the fabric member 3 to each other is not an indispensable element. Similar effects to the First Embodiment can be obtained without adhering the inner surfaces 3 a to each other by overlapping the inner surfaces 3 a to obtain a planar rectangular shape and causing the wiping portions 6, 7 provided on the adhered portions 4, 5 to project from the fabric member 3.

In the First and Second Embodiments, although the ATM 20 was used in order to explain an example of a card using machine, the card using machine is not limited to an ATM. It may be an automatic ticket gate or card-operated automatic ticket vending machine found in a station or a card-operated telephone, or other device. Furthermore, the cleaning card according to the present invention is not limited in application to a card using machine but may be applied to any machine in which a leaf of paper is conveyed and a device such as a sensor is provided internally, such as a bill sorting machine or a printer.

In the First and Second Embodiments, although the lenses 24, 25, 26 of the sensor or other device are wiped by the cleaning card 1, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. Cleaning card 1 may be used to wipe any specific inbuilt component such as a roller, for example. 

1. A cleaning card comprising: a tubular fabric member; at least one adhered portion formed on an outer surface of the fabric member by overlapping and adhering a part of a fabric forming the fabric member; and a wiping portion provided on the adhered portion and formed so as to project from the adhered portion, wherein the fabric member takes a planar shape obtained by folding the fabric member such that inner surfaces thereof overlap, and the adhered portion is positioned on the outer surface of the fabric member.
 2. The cleaning card according to claim 1, wherein the overlapping inner surfaces are adhered by an adhesive.
 3. The cleaning card according to claim 1, comprising a plate-shaped base material, wherein the base material is inserted into an interior of the fabric member such that two surfaces of the base material are overlapped by the inner surfaces of the fabric member.
 4. The cleaning card according to claim 1, comprising two or more of the adhered portions, wherein at least one adhered portion is positioned on each of two outer surfaces of the fabric member.
 5. The cleaning card according to claim 1, wherein the wiping portion is formed from the same material as the fabric.
 6. The cleaning card according to claim 5, wherein the wiping portion is formed integrally with the adhered portion. 